Get to know the creators and characters!
Pride Profile: Batwoman.
Summary
The revamped Kate Kane went from inception to icon in an instant. Introduced in 52 #7, Batwoman headlined Detective Comics before getting her own eponymous series. Whether it’s the striking costume and crimson hair, her history as a military brat and the heir to a fortune, her refusal to lie about her sexuality to stay in the West Point, her connections to DC stalwarts Sawyer and Montoya, or her general butt kicking awesomeness, fans from across the DCU quickly connected with Kate. Although she’s willing to work with her cousin Bruce Wayne, this is no purse toting ‘lady’ Batman willing to take a backseat to anyone. And, where Batman’s focus on his mission can strain even his closest relationships, Kate has shown a more nurturing supportive leadership style that strengthens her ties to her allies. Detective Comic’s Elegy arc by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III starring Batwoman is a masterpiece of story and art that not only helped cement her place in DC history, but introduced one of the greatest villains in decades.
In DC’s Bombshells, Kate is in a league of her own as one of that universe’s favorite characters. Television’s Batwoman debuted in the Arrowverse crossover ‘Elseworlds’ before going on to star in her own show.
The great irony is that the original Batwoman, Kathy Kane, was created in part to dispel any notion that Batman was gay. Decades later, Kate would become the most famous lesbian superhero of all.
DC Bombshells comics were based on a line of figures.
Pride Profile: Renee Montoya.
Summary
Everyone’s favorite GCPD detective is another character developed for animated television, but that first appeared in print. While she started as Gordon’s assistant in Batman #475 and as Harvey Bullock’s partner after Batman: The Animated Series episode ‘Pretty Poison,’ the character gained depth and fan recognition with her defining role in Greg Rucka’s Gotham Central. In that seminal series, Renee battled alcoholism, loved and lost her share of women, and fought corruption and crime. Montoya’s profile grew further as one of the pillars of the 52 weekly series where she reluctantly accepted the mantel as the new Question. Renee has also figured into the story of Kate Kane with a brief romantic relationship when they were younger that was rekindled when Batwoman arrived in Gotham. Her latest star turn in Lois Lane proves the character can shift seamlessly between hard boiled detective and superhero roles.
In addition to animation and comics, Renne has appeared in the television’s Gotham and on the big screen in Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey.
Renee’s original animated look
Pride Profile: Maggie Sawyer.
Summary
Most people would not see a transfer from Metropolis PD’s Special Crimes Unit to Gotham City PD as a desirable move. But, most people aren’t police Captain Maggie Sawyer. Introduced in Superman vol. 2 #4 by John Byrne, Maggie has never apologized for being a tough, hard charging cop. And after her marriage fell apart, she never apologized for being a lesbian either.
In 2002, Maggie would go from Metropolis to Gotham, becoming Captain of the police squad and one of the leads in the ensemble cast of the Gotham Central series by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka. Rucka would later bring her back in his 2009 run of Detective Comics as a prospective love interest for series lead Kate Kane/Batwoman, a romance that would continue into Kate’s Batwoman solo series by J.H. Williams III & William H. Blackman that launched during the New 52 in 2011. During the run, Kate would propose to Maggie to marry her, which Maggie accepted, a first for lesbian women in comics. However, due to editorial mandates, the plans for marriage were scrapped and the couple was broken up under a new creative team.
Sawyer has also been in numerous other media, including the TV series Supergirl and the 1997 Superman: The Animated Series. Her animated appearance is notable in that in the two-part episode “Apocalyps…Now!”, when she is injured, she is recovering with an unnamed woman sitting by her side, in what the series producers has said was the closest they could get away with addressing her sexuality in the cartoon. This same stricture of avoiding explicitly portraying her sexuality original also applied to the comics as gay representation was forbidden by the Comics Code Authority from 1954 to 1989.
Superman Debut
Pride Profile: Marc Andreyko.
Summary
In 2004, DC Comics relaunched Manhunter with a new hero and a writer that would prove capable of creating complex, entertaining, modern comic book super hero stories. If Marc Andreyko had stopped with creating Kate Spencer and an openly gay relationship for Obsidian he would have done enough to earn his spot in DC History as a prominent gay writer. But, he wasn’t done. He would go on to helm titles staring Batwoman, Supergirl and Wonder Woman as well as organizing DC and IDW Comics celebration of the LGBTQ community Love is Love.
Manhunter
Pride Profile: Marguerite Bennet.
Summary
This GLAAD nominated self-identified queer writer has been a dynamo at DC Comics and beyond. Starting with co-authoring a Batman Annual with Scott Synder, she started writing regularly the next year with Earth 2: World’s End. But, it was her launching the DC Bombshells comic universe that cemented her not only as a fantastic writer but an historically important proponent of Pride representation in comics. She wrote the series with the straight forward idea that “if you write stories that tell folks that queer people can live without shame, they just might grow up believing it.” She followed up with a stint helming Batwoman, and projects outside of DC including A Force, Josie and the Pussycats, and creator owned InSeXts. Stay tuned, because there’s no way Bennett is done yet.
DC Comics: Bombshells
Pride Profile: James Tynion IV.
Summary
You see the name Tynion on a comic cover and you trust it’s going to be good. Tynion earned that trust with his DC work on Batman comics, including the IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossovers, and an A+ run on Justice League Dark. Tynion can also be added to the growing list of successful writers introduced into the DCU by Scott Snyder. He has been nominated for Eisner and Harvey Awards, and won the 2016 GLAAD Media award for Outstanding Comic Book for his creator owned The Woods with IDW. Openly bisexual himself, Tynion enriches his stories with representation across the spectrum, including Batman’s new rival Ghosthunter.
Batman Eternal
Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Justice League Dark